Highland Park to host digital seminar for businesses

Highland Park will host a digital media workshop for business owners on Jan. 31.

The event will be facilitated by the Chicago-based Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, a digital media arts college, and will feature veteran Chicago businessman Howard Tullman and social media expert Stephanie Moritz. The idea for the seminar came from the city's business summit earlier this fall, said Deputy City Manager Ghida Neukirch.

Tullman, CEO of 1871, a tech-business incubator in the Merchandise Mart, was a speaker at that event and his presentation was "very well received," Neukirch said. "We wanted to continue that conversation and provide this opportunity."

The workshop – titled "Digital Strategies to Grow Your Business" – will be at the Art Center, 1957 Sheridan Road, and does not involve the use of any city funds, Neukirch said.

Tribeca Flashpoint Academy was started in 2007, said Edward Glassman, the school's vice president of marketing and business development. But the workshop in Highland Park launches the Digital Professional Institute, programming that will be specifically designed for helping businesses navigate the digital world.

Through two- to three-day "boot camps" or longer eight- to 12-week sessions, the institute will try to give businesses the digital marketing skills needed to thrive, he said.

"The idea of the Highland Park event is it's almost a tease of what we're going to offer in a more intensive way in the classroom," said Glassman, who is also executive director of the fledgling Digital Professional Institute.

Tullman was president of Tribeca Flashpoint Academy. Moritz is a social media expert with ConAgra Foods.